A case that began with a debate about digital privacy has ended with prison time. William Hill, one of the minds behind Samourai Wallet, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison — a ruling that instantly becomes a landmark moment in how the United States treats privacy technology inside the crypto world.
Key Takeaways:
Samourai Wallet co-founder William Hill received four years in federal prison.
Prosecutors argued the wallet’s privacy features were engineered to facilitate criminal fund movement.
The platform was linked to more than $237 million in illegal transactions, according to the DOJ.
Instead of framing Hill as a rogue developer, the government positioned him as an operator of an underground financial service. In their view, Samourai didn’t merely offer privacy — it enabled an entire black-market liquidity channel.
How the Case Reached This Point
Hill and co-founder Keonne Rodriguez both chose to take plea deals earlier this year, admitting to operating an unlicensed money-transmission business. That agreement allowed prosecutors to drop heavier allegations, including conspiracy to launder money, but it didn’t spare them from serious punishment.
Rodriguez received a five-year maximum sentence several months ago. Hill’s four-year term came later and was reduced only after the court weighed his age and a recent autism diagnosis. Even with that consideration, the judge emphasized that the scale of criminal financial flow through Samourai demanded accountability.
According to the Department of Justice, more than $237 million in illegal transfers moved through the platform — funds connected to darknet markets, hacked funds and other criminal activities.
Prosecutors Pushed a Central Theme: Privacy by Design, Crime by Intent
At the heart of the case was the government’s interpretation of Samourai’s privacy tools. Investigators argued that Whirlpool and Ricochet weren’t simply options for law-abiding users who wanted confidentiality — they were deliberately engineered to attract people trying to conceal illicit transactions.
Court filings pointed to advertising language, community engagement and feature development cycles as evidence that the project was built to serve individuals who wanted to stay hidden rather than simply stay private.
The prosecution repeatedly described Samourai as a pipeline in which every step — from mixing, to obfuscation, to forwarding — was optimized to defeat investigative tracking.
Why This Ruling Matters Far Beyond Samourai
Hill’s conviction doesn’t end with one wallet, one platform or one developer team. It reinforces a rapidly forming legal precedent: builders of privacy systems may be held criminally responsible for how users interact with their tools — even if those developers never handle customer funds.
The timing is also significant. The decision follows the conviction of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and arrives amid a wave of open investigations into mixers, anonymizing protocols and non-custodial wallets. The question now echoing through the industry is whether privacy tech is still considered a form of protected innovation, or whether it is increasingly being treated as financial infrastructure subject to full regulatory enforcement.
Crypto privacy advocates say the ruling will chill experimentation. Regulators insist the ruling protects markets. Whichever interpretation prevails, one thing is certain: the U.S. is no longer treating privacy in crypto as a neutral engineering challenge — it is treating it as a matter of criminal liability.
